Growth factors play an important role in angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and vasculogenesis, and they regulate angiogenesis in a variety of processes. Undesirable or pathological angiogenesis is associated with numerous diseases including diabetic retinopathy, psoriasis, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, atheroma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and hemangioma. Angiogenic ocular conditions represent the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in developed countries. In the United States, for example, retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration are the principal causes of blindness in infants, working age adults, and the elderly, respectively.
Therefore, there is a need for new therapeutic compounds for the treatment of diseases associated with the aberrant signaling of growth factors and diseases associated with angiogenesis, such as cancer, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy.